During the meeting, EXPRA’s Managing Director Joachim Quoden presented preliminary summary of 2019 noting that 2019 was dominated by the implementation guidelines for WFD / PPWD and SUP resulting in many consultations, workshops, position papers, individual meetings with DG Envi etc. During this year also was the start of the Circular Plastic Alliance by DG Growth which caused unexpected additional workload. The MD informed the members on the EXPRA highlights from April to November 2019 and outlook for the events coming in 2020.
Monika Romenska, EXPRA R&PA Manager informed the members about the state of play in the CEP IAs, DAs and guidelines as well as the on-going developments with regards to the Single Use Plastics (SUP) Directive and other plastics policies and initiatives.
Amanda Fuso Nerini, CONAI, Chair of the Sustainability and Packaging WG presented the activities of the WG as well as the forthcoming publications. The activities of the TWG were presented by the Chair, Daniel Tabone, GreenPak.
Very interesting was the presentation of the Chair of Data and Reporting WG, Mr Paul Christiaens, Dutch Afvalfonds on “Monitoring, reporting & data collection, the new currency!? Which role EPR has to and can play?” The presentation covered all hot topics namely: eco modulation, litter costs and plastic tax, focusing on the more technical aspects of calculation and reporting. In this regard, members were also called upon to reach out to their respective national experts.
The Restart of ISWA in Rotterdam was presented by Mr. Marc Tijhuis, CEO ISWA. He especially focused on how can EXPRA and ISWA benefit of an increased cooperation. Mr. Tijhuis invited EXPRA to participate actively in the next ISWA World Congress which will take place in Rotterdam 28-30 September 2020.
The General Assembly approved the budget 2020, the budget distribution method and the membership fees (not changed).
As previously agreed, 3 EXPRA members presented the situation in their countries – Valipac, Belgium, EEQ, Canada and TAMIR, Israel.